28 posts tagged “arwen”
Walking 'round downtown, finding anything to climb on
Yesterday I rolled Arwen's window down so she could say goodbye to a little friend, and her purple balloon got sucked out the window! If you've ever witnessed this, it is a true heartbreak for a child. Their tears are genuine.
Trying to put a good spin on her tragedy I said, "But he's free now! He got his freedom!"
I expected more tears, but she said, "You mean she."
Arwen climbed into bed with us yesterday morning, as she does every morning, and we oohed and aahed about her being 4! She said, "But I'm not big." I know what she means. She's been babied. She is the baby of 3, and she still looks like a baby. Her face is still round; her hands are still dimpled. Arwen is a peanut. All the strangers at Trader Joe's seem surprised when she tells them she's turning 4, not 3. Highlights: chocolate muffins, a tea party board game and cheeseburgers with her family. In 10 days we'll be in the middle of a princess party with her little cronies.
I am nursing and cleaning up after the third sick child, in as many weeks. Arwen, almost 4, went to bed last night with a low grade fever. 11 o'clock she vomited up most of the contents of her stomach onto her bed, mostly strawberries and cup cake icing. More information than my neighbors want? Trust me, it could've been so much worse. Of course, little children are horrified that this could happen. But we introduced her, again, to the vomit bucket.
At about 12:30, she used the bucket for the 1st time, in the night, in the dark! Bullseye. I'm very proud, and relieved. Now her next milestone will be getting her head over the toilet in time.
Sadly, she's the crankiest sick patient of the three of them. Her fever wasn't nearly as high as Seth's and she was griping from her bed today with grunts and hollers either because Seth was singing too loudly or shutting a cabinet door too loudly. I just told her to hush. Good thing she's so cute.
On the way to pick up pizza, we're listening to Michel Thomas's Spanish. Savannah and I are tripping along with sentences like "Can you make a translation for me today?" It's Klingon to Arwen, 3 1/2 years old. She asks, "Are these bad words?" I chuckle and answer, no. If they're bad words, Mama is in big trouble 'cause it's been in our rotation for a long time.
There are so many things for children to learn, zippers and buttons, burping with the mouth closed, keeping the umbrella still so they don't poke a sister's eye; then there's the vague concept of potty words. What are potty words to a kid? How does a three year old really understand why it's offensive and forbidden to say? Adults must seem so uptight! Admittedly, a lot of the scolding is simply motivated by the need not to be seen as a "bad mom" (Gasp! "What must she be saying in front of her children?") instead of just teaching manners.
I think the first potty words are actually harmless, poop, butt, etc.... and actually kind of funny, but only the first few times. Lots of things are cute the first time, not so cute after a thousand times. Once a little one knows it's forbidden, it's followed by a room full of 3 and 5 year old giggles. (I should point out here that a 16 year old coming home and cussing his parents is another issue, born out of some other tolerance or perpetuation of disrespect.) Somehow, by the time they're in first grade or so, they know that some are really forbidden, because of the consequences from teachers, reactions from other children....; these words become known as "the F Word", "the S Word," etc...... and with it, the strange fascination to know them all.
The kiddies always have a lot of fun in the house where Brad grew up. It is big and full of strange imports from all over the world, little musical instruments you wouldn't recognize, more books than I've ever seen in anyone's house, his brother's large paintings, including a life size angel of death and angel of life. Brad found his Childcraft books and his mother had no problem with our taking them home with us. I'd been looking on ebay for a set because I poured over mine when I was young but don't know what became of them.
Curry, lots of homemade sourdough rolls and loaves, an Italian Creme Cake, and Savannah helped her grandmother make chapati.
My first No Music Monday. Today in the van, I resisted the habit of reaching for the music so that I could instead hear the pitch of my 3-year-old's cough, and these abstract phrases from my 5 year old, that I can never remember later in the day. I just know he doesn't use them right, like "what's the meaning of this?!" when I ask if he's strapped into his car seat, or some such.
The one thing I learned at the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, CA is that 5 year old boys are danger magnets! It's great for 8 year olds or any adult looking for a goofy outing in the woods. Someone suggested having a birthday there, which hadn't occurred to me. Perhaps for Savannah... Seth will have to be older though. He giggled and flopped around until he flipped on that steep hill and cracked his head against part of the cabin. As tough as they think they are, they still have such a sad, pathetic cry and want their mothers with each new scar.
Handing out the bumper stickers is genius because I've seen countless in the Bay area. That's really what got us there. After not buying anything in the souvenir shop, even with a begging 8 year old, we toured with a girl of about 20 who hadn't yet learned the importance of enunciation. She grew on me though. She was nice to Seth when he really needed it. After his fall, he somehow lost the pool ball and the golf ball that she loaned him to make him happy, which is really funny to me, as if Seth is the mystery and in seconds he loses everything you give him!
Don't wonder why I don't have photos of the hill, woods, or cabin; between my nausea at the disorientation and worry over Seth's running (sliding) across the cabin floor, it didn't occur to me to get a picture of the "anomalies".
